where do I find info on Honda engine makes and what fits what, what comes in what

where can I see a general identifying data on Honda engines? I keep seeing different number desigations, but right now dont have a meaning to me, I have never owned a Honda before, & I am looking at several different ones, Accords, & civics, I even inquired about a Prelude needing work, but guy sold it fast.

I am not new to cars, & have built many, mostly plug & play, replacing engine or tranny on newer stuff, which I do mechanic work part time, however I was in different worlds for my self, until last 2 years I have stayed with OBDI or non computers for most part, , & alot of my vehicles have been carbed & had point ignitions. lol. I have owned a couple 1996 vehicles, but american, or Toyota, or air cooled VW, many muscle cars, & muscle trucks. plus have rode motorcycles almost more than cars most of my life, over 30 years driving, working on cars & bikes. and for what ever reason, I am wanting to learn & experiment, & play with a Daily Driver Honda, but I wont buy anything until I know what is what.

anyway how do I get an understanding of the Honda world so I can make a very informed decision on which way I go. and on swapping, right now I am a complete novice here.

The most popular platform, by far, is an EG Civic. That is a Civic from 92-95. Comes in a coupe, 4 door, or a hatch depending on what kind of daily you want. Because it's the most popular, the aftermarket is insane. If it doesn't bolt right up, somebody sells mounts and harnesses for it to bolt right up. To put it in American terms, its the S10 of the Honda world. You can practically build one from aftermarket parts, haha.

S10 trucks I know, my wifes beater is actually a 94 S10, with the 4.3, non vortec I refused to own the Vortec with as much trouble as they cause, I have worked on too many, & they cost more to fix, she doesnt want me to do a V8 conversion, because of gas mileage, although I said with a OD tranny & a taller rear gear it would have more power and better gas mileage, I grew up with L series Datsuns, from 68 to about 82 using L series head on Z blocks, had a bunch of 510s & 620 trucks, as well as over 20 beetles, busses, 1 typeIII fastback, half a dozen Harleys. out in fielld behind house, I have a bunch of my old beaters, but they need more money spent than they are worth, I even have an old Opel, I parted out a Horizon, still have 2, 510s, couple old 64 Impalas, a Thunderbird, a few Novas, big block Dodge Polara, old Chevelle, a Fiat X1/9, a couple old Toyota trucks, a MGB, several air cooled Bugs, busses, & the typeIII, 2 Neons, dodge truck, GMC truck, Ford Truck, Jeep Cherokee. I traded a Nova for my current Harley, and sold a beater Hyndai I hated, just sold an Oldsmobile Silhouette, In my life I have owned 6 MGBs, several vintage Fiats, & Triumph cars, as well as other Toyota trucks, and a few more american vehicles. I cant remember all on top of my head,

anyway whats loosing me is like when you mention EG civic, and I will see reference to D, H, F, A, B, K, but I dont know all the letter designations yet, & what it came in what, or? I am taking notes from all reading I am trying to do.

I know I have a V6 from a mid 90's accord, laying around, where I swapped engines several years ago in a customers car, it locked up, thanks to previous mechainc jacking car up by oil pan, she drove 3 miles, & it stalled, she went to court & lost, & paid for engine out of her pocket, it freed up as soon as I loosened a few rods, but she wanted a replacement motor, & not replacing bearings, so I still have engine, but I know for gas mileage I prefer 4 cylinders. thats the only V6 Honda I have done any work to other than replacing plugs, or oil changes.

anyway I am interested in decent power, I need something that will handle the mountains comfortably, fairly good size, & grades, a stock VW bug can get to 2nd or first going up, a souped up bug can handle in 3rd & 4th, I want decent gas mileage, & undecided whether automatic or stick shift, my left knee is bothering me from 30 years of driving sticks, but my big Ford truck is automatic, and can drive it when knee is acting up, but I am not picky, unless one is better than the other.

the EG thing correlates to the generation (based loosely on the VIN)
EG = 5th gen civic, EK= 6th gen civic, DC = 3rd gen integra, DA= 2nd gen integra... etc
think of it the same way you would think of Jeep generations being designated (CJ,YJ,TJ,etc)

D, H, F, A, B, K - all apply to the engine "series"
it is the same as the nissan engine designations for Z,L,KA,SR,RB,etc

for honda engines the first letter tells you the series of the engine, the following numbers will generally tell you the displacement, the trailing letter and number (or lack of number) will give you information about the head, internals, and market
B18C1
B - series engine
18 - 1.8L displacement
C1 - DOHC VTEC - GSR US market

S10 trucks I know, my wifes beater is actually a 94 S10, with the 4.3, non vortec I refused to own the Vortec with as much trouble as they cause, I have worked on too many, & they cost more to fix, she doesnt want me to do a V8 conversion, because of gas mileage, although I said with a OD tranny & a taller rear gear it would have more power and better gas mileage, I grew up with L series Datsuns, from 68 to about 82 using L series head on Z blocks, had a bunch of 510s & 620 trucks, as well as over 20 beetles, busses, 1 typeIII fastback, half a dozen Harleys. out in fielld behind house, I have a bunch of my old beaters, but they need more money spent than they are worth, I even have an old Opel, I parted out a Horizon, still have 2, 510s, couple old 64 Impalas, a Thunderbird, a few Novas, big block Dodge Polara, old Chevelle, a Fiat X1/9, a couple old Toyota trucks, a MGB, several air cooled Bugs, busses, & the typeIII, 2 Neons, dodge truck, GMC truck, Ford Truck, Jeep Cherokee. I traded a Nova for my current Harley, and sold a beater Hyndai I hated, just sold an Oldsmobile Silhouette, In my life I have owned 6 MGBs, several vintage Fiats, & Triumph cars, as well as other Toyota trucks, and a few more american vehicles. I cant remember all on top of my head,

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Damn. Nice. Where do you live that you have this much space?

anyway whats loosing me is like when you mention EG civic, and I will see reference to D, H, F, A, B, K, but I dont know all the letter designations yet, & what it came in what, or? I am taking notes from all reading I am trying to do.

In the mean time, I'll give you a quick summary.
D- Most commonly found in Civics. Most are single cam, but DOHC does exist. Most people will swap these out in favor of a "top of the line" D or another engine. 1.5-1.6 liters
H & F- I'm doing these together because they are very similar motors with many compatible parts (including a frankenstein of parts called the "G-series"). Found in Accords and Preludes. Pretty nice aftermarket for them. They do make mounts to put them in about everything. These are the "high" displacement motors. 2.0-2.3 liters.
F20C- Found in the S2000. Not like the other F-series. Only works in a S2000 barring extensive work.
A-I'm not even sure off the top of my head.
B-Came in Integras and top of the line Civics. It's the most common swap into a Civic. They range from 1.6L to 2.0L. All are DOHC. TONS of aftermarket. I'd imagine this would be your best bet. It won't be original, but it'll be fairly simple and fun. Stay away from the B20A. Has nothing in common with the others and is best served at the end of a chain attached to a boat.
K-Modern Honda engines. Range from 2.0-2.4. They basically took the best features of all the other series and worked them into one platform. Great motors, but expensive to buy, expensive to then swap, and aftermarket gear is expensive. By far the best option, but you're not going to do it for $5k.

I know I have a V6 from a mid 90's accord, laying around, where I swapped engines several years ago in a customers car, it locked up, thanks to previous mechainc jacking car up by oil pan, she drove 3 miles, & it stalled, she went to court & lost, & paid for engine out of her pocket, it freed up as soon as I loosened a few rods, but she wanted a replacement motor, & not replacing bearings, so I still have engine, but I know for gas mileage I prefer 4 cylinders. thats the only V6 Honda I have done any work to other than replacing plugs, or oil changes.

anyway I am interested in decent power, I need something that will handle the mountains comfortably, fairly good size, & grades, a stock VW bug can get to 2nd or first going up, a souped up bug can handle in 3rd & 4th, I want decent gas mileage, & undecided whether automatic or stick shift, my left knee is bothering me from 30 years of driving sticks, but my big Ford truck is automatic, and can drive it when knee is acting up, but I am not picky, unless one is better than the other.

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The V6 is really only good for the Accord. You'd need custom mounts and such. It's been done, but it's not cost effective. Modifying Hondas is 99% 4 cylinders. You'll also want manual. You'll have choices in gearing, and frankly, most of the autos suck. And that's coming from the guy with slushbox in his username.

the EG thing correlates to the generation (based loosely on the VIN)
EG = 5th gen civic, EK= 6th gen civic, DC = 3rd gen integra, DA= 2nd gen integra... etc
think of it the same way you would think of Jeep generations being designated (CJ,YJ,TJ,etc)

D, H, F, A, B, K - all apply to the engine "series"
it is the same as the nissan engine designations for Z,L,KA,SR,RB,etc

for honda engines the first letter tells you the series of the engine, the following numbers will generally tell you the displacement, the trailing letter and number (or lack of number) will give you information about the head, internals, and market
B18C1
B - series engine
18 - 1.8L displacement
C1 - DOHC VTEC - GSR US market

mountains of Virginia, my driveway is over 1/8th a mile, but not quite 1/4, however its up the side of a mountain,

actually I just gave the highlights, I probably have between 40 to 50 of my old cars parked around, plus an old Freighliner, I have my 1959 bug that I am redoing at my friends shop I work at, as well as my Isuzu truck a 95 model with 57,XXX original miles, at house I have a 63 bug I bought when I was 13, & I have been a bug nut & owned for around 34 years, but I am also tired of the scene to a degree, I also have a very nice 1985 Toyota truck thats a 1 ton, extremely rare, with 4 cylinder, 5 speed, & single rear wheels.

thanks for the info, thats what I was looking for I believe,

1 civic I have talked to owner about, I am leaning hard to this one, as price is right, lol, its a 1995, a friend got it doing some trading & work on a vehicle, supposedly has a V-tec engine swap, but not sure what it is, he didnt do swap, & says thats what previous owner told him, its spraybombed black, 5 speed, has low-profile tires & wheels with nearly new tires, & he is willing to trade me for a couple of my old beaters, like a Ford Taurus, to get his son something to drive with an automatic, and a Neon that needs a few things to get it back road worthy, its been off road for 5 years, & the Taurus for 8 years, it was my step daughters car, and she moved across country, & was afraid to trust it on long trip, but had it to drive when she was here, she picked up a beater where she lives, but either rents a car or takes bus or train when she comes here, last few years we ride my crotch rocket when we go visit, anyway my step daughter she gave up trying to keep it on road, with Tags, insurance, inspection, & it has sat since. anyway he got this car thinking he was going to give it to his son, however he cant get his son to get hang of driving a stick shift, & he says he just wants an automatic, he can drive a stick in an emergency, but will stall it out, & shift bad. he has only slipped this on road within a couple miles as he hasnt put tags on it. & it does have a new clutch probably under 25 miles, but kid practicing, and slipping it, but motor is unknown, claimed a 94,XXX mile motor, but who knows if a timing belt was done. maybe never?

for a side note I have a co-worker, she bought her Civic with 85,XXX miles, & it has 220,XXX miles as of last week & hasnt put a belt on it, & I been warning her for 2 years, trying to maybe get the job to make a few bucks myself. lol. she is talking of maybe selling cheap, and buying her a new car.

I also have talked to owner of a Accord.

I forgot to mention I did have an Acura for a brief period of time, it was a Vigor, with the inline 5 cylinder, with 5 speed, when I found how much it cost for parts, & I had problems, I junked it, but had traded even for a old 74 Ford F350 that needed work but I did sell the Acura, I knew I would never fix I still miss the truck, lol.

That V6 engine that you have laying around is pretty worthless in terms of swapping, but V6 swaps in to Civics and Integras are actually fairly common these days. The engines you should look for are the J-series motors (found in late model Accords, Odyssey minivans, and some of the Acura sedans). They're not a bolt-in fit and typically you have to cut a hole in the hood for the engine to poke through, but I think they're pretty cool. Some of those J-series engines put out about 300 horses AND have torque (which most Honda 4 cylinders are lacking in)...

That V6 engine that you have laying around is pretty worthless in terms of swapping, but V6 swaps in to Civics and Integras are actually fairly common these days. The engines you should look for are the J-series motors (found in late model Accords, Odyssey minivans, and some of the Acura sedans). They're not a bolt-in fit and typically you have to cut a hole in the hood for the engine to poke through, but I think they're pretty cool. Some of those J-series engines put out about 300 horses AND have torque (which most Honda 4 cylinders are lacking in)...

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not sure I am ready for that yet, lol, but I am no stranger to adapting, fabricating, & welding, but on older non computer controlled vehicles, lol. never really done alot to computer controlled cars, just replaced parts, not done any real modifying, & its the proverbial wild hair thats brought me here. I did play with Neons a little, once upon a time, but want to go farther. older vehicles I have lived through & done more than I can get into.

I want decent gas mileage, but still love power.

my V6, it is complete, but partially disassembled, I did check it after pulling, & I pulled the heads, cylinders looked great, but crank had 2 rod journals with slight blueing, & 2 rods siezed, however they didnt transfer any bearing material to crank. if it had been really junk, I would have already scrapped it, after loosening rods & applying oil & retightning, it turned over. but I could care less about it, its free, & sitting, but I just mentioned it because I had it laying around.

mountains of Virginia, my driveway is over 1/8th a mile, but not quite 1/4, however its up the side of a mountain,

actually I just gave the highlights, I probably have between 40 to 50 of my old cars parked around, plus an old Freighliner, I have my 1959 bug that I am redoing at my friends shop I work at, as well as my Isuzu truck a 95 model with 57,XXX original miles, at house I have a 63 bug I bought when I was 13, & I have been a bug nut & owned for around 34 years, but I am also tired of the scene to a degree, I also have a very nice 1985 Toyota truck thats a 1 ton, extremely rare, with 4 cylinder, 5 speed, & single rear wheels.

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I've almost owned a lot of bugs, haha. They're really cool, easy to work on, and pretty damn cheap. Just never actually pulled the trigger on one.

for a side note I have a co-worker, she bought her Civic with 85,XXX miles, & it has 220,XXX miles as of last week & hasnt put a belt on it, & I been warning her for 2 years, trying to maybe get the job to make a few bucks myself. lol. she is talking of maybe selling cheap, and buying her a new car.

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That's impressive and risky, haha. I bought my Integra with 60 something thousand. It has over 205k now and I've done the belt twice.

I've almost owned a lot of bugs, haha. They're really cool, easy to work on, and pretty damn cheap. Just never actually pulled the trigger on one.

That's impressive and risky, haha. I bought my Integra with 60 something thousand. It has over 205k now and I've done the belt twice.

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she says her husband is a car geek, humph! its lowered, low profile tires, fart can exhaust, but wont put a belt on it, she doesnt care for what he did to it, but its her only transportation, I try to tell people to replace their belt every 75,XXX miles for daily drivers, & play toys that get revved alot I tell them drop back to 50,XXX miles, as precautionary measure.

I will say I am not versed in timing belts on Hondas, but I have put literally hundreds of belts on vehicles, as well as replaced heads on those that had them snap. most belts seem to go between 115,XXX & 140,XXX miles before they break, but I have seen a few exceptions, saw a lady crying blues when her belt broke on her Accord, at 290,XXX, it was at a different shop & I wasnt guy working on it, she had bought it new, and didnt understand the consequences of not replacing. I know another idiot driving a Ford Contour with a Ztec engine that has 189,XXX & its on original belt, "they cant afford to replace" it was bought from a friend of mine that bought it new, so I know of its history.

back to the VW bugs, they are fun cars, however dont ever buy one unless you are prepared to tinker! it has 8 brake adjusters, 1 for each shoe, & as they wear your brake pedal will get closer to floor, till you need to pump 2 times or even 3 times to have brakes, chainging oil is alot more serious, it doesnt have a filter & only holds 2 & 1/2 quarts, so change at 2000 miles, screen every 3 or 4 changes, then adjust valves every other oil change, or if too noisy, or if you sense a loss of power, you could have a valve receeding & that got tight & loosing compression, the alternator / generator belt, needs to be adjusted fairly often, it is adjusted with shims between pulleys, & it it gets loose, the fan wont cool & you will over heat, also you will need to clean & adjust points as necessary, or convert to electronic ignition, if all the sudden engine stops idling, its an inexpensie solenoid on carb to replace, or run a early carb that doesnt have that feature, and when it gets cold, you will be tinkering with carb adjustments, & choke adjustments, also dont plan for great gas mileage, most only get about 25mpg, yes you can do better, but it isnt easy, & will take several paragraphs to explain, my DD got 33 to 35mpg, VW also had factory fuel injection, but it was very problematic, I cant recomend for anyone wanting to drive farther than they can afford to get towed home, and back to brakes, there is a solution to having to adjust all the time convert to disc brakes. but its expensive, or you will have to know how to adapt. now for the bodies crawl under & look at floor boards, rust is your enemy! look closely, now look at heater channels, any holes & you wont get good heat, & too much & you loose frame strength, now look at frame head, & front suspension, if a super beetle it will have struts, if a standard it will have a beam going across, look at its mounting points. I have worked in VW bug repair shops for years back when they were alot more popular, now after you get over that, & like thinking outside the box WELCOME, lol.... its all second nature to me. I bought my first bug when I was 13, I am almost 47 now, & rebuilt the engine at 13 years old, the engine was a 1968 model, & has a few minor mods, I still have that engine, & its only been rebuilt 1 time since, & its in a 71 Super, that rust got to, the 63 bug it came in I still have, but its been parked over 20 years, I also have a 72 super, & a 73 sunbug, plus back half of a 73 standard I cut up, it was way to far gone to think of rebuilding, & I have the 1959 at shop I am building from ground up.

no intentions of performing anything like this right now, but since the comments on the V6 conversions, I looked it up on here, looks more like a running joke as people asking cant do the conversions? I am intrigued as whats the issue? fabricating? & the lack of skill to make custom mounts & hang engine & tranny correctly, what I sense would be difficult is axles correct length, or having to have axles sent out to be re-splined, & the actually wiring engine to car. to me fab work is easy, I have been welding since I was 9, and have access to alot of metal working tools. I have done 2 V8 conversions to front wheel drives, 1 was a Chevy Citation, the other was a pontiac 6000. talk about fun!

I was reading so many arguments against the v6 conversion due to weight issues, but I have seen autocross won with guys with way too much horespower and front end weight able to make up coming out of turns & through the straights, versus cars that actually handled, for example a 302 in a ford pinto, winning versus 20 other cars more suited to actually win. sometimes nothing beats cubis inches, except cubic $DOLLARS$, the pinto was all over track, but it won by sheer acceleration and speed.

Yup, 90k. And if you're swapping engines, do it before you install it in the car. Makes the job that much easier, haha.

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I still recomend replacing any timing belt more like 75,XXX, I have seen quite a few fail earlier, but for most part that was on Pintos, Mustang IIs, Vegas, Chevettes, but I have seen maybe half a dozen in modern cars fail early, 1 last year on a GEO Tracker, maybe 35,XXX one in a 84 Pontiac J2000, he claimed under 20,XXX miles, I wonder if person that replaced it had tool to tighten water pump that adjusts belt tension? a friend broke one in his accord with 46,XXX, plus I can name a few others.

and yes its so much easier to replace bellt with engine outside car, than with engine installed. some vehicles are a nightmare to replace belt. while others are a breeze.